• n. 北，北方
• adj. 北方的；朝北的
• adv. 在北方，向北方

来自古英语north,北方，可能来自PIE*ner,下边，左边，来自PIE*ni,向下，下方，词源同beneath,nether.即人面向太阳升起的方向时左手所对应的方位。比较south,词源同sun.

north

north: [OE] North is a general West and North Germanic word for ‘north’, represented also in German, Swedish, and Danish nord and Dutch noorden. It was also borrowed into French (from Old English) as nord, from where it spread into Italian and Romanian as nord and into Spanish as norte. It is not known for certain where it came from, but a link has been suggested with nertro-, a word for ‘left’ in the extinct Oscan- Umbrian languages of Italy, which might mean that the underlying meaning of north is ‘to the left as one faces the rising sun’ (modern Irish tuaisceart ‘north’ was based on a word meaning ‘left’).

north

Old English nore "northern" (adj.), "northwards" (adv.), from Proto-Germanic *nurtha- (cognates: Old Norse norer, Old Saxon north, Old Frisian north, Middle Dutch nort, Dutch noord, German nord), possibly ultimately from PIE *ner- (1) "left," also "below," as north is to the left when one faces the rising sun (cognates: Sanskrit narakah "hell," Greek enerthen "from beneath," Oscan-Umbrian nertrak "left"). The same notion underlies Old Irish tuath "left; northern;" Arabic shamal "left hand; north." The usual word for "north" in the Romance languages ultimately is from English, for example Old French north (Modern French nord), borrowed from Old English nore; Italian, Spanish norte are borrowed from French.

Ask where's the North? At York 'tis on the Tweed;
In Scotland at the Orcades; and there
At Greenland, Zembla, or the Lord knows where.
[Pope, "Essay on Man"]

As a noun, c. 1200, from the adverb. North Pole attested from mid-15c. (earlier the Arctic pole, late 14c.). North American (n.) first used 1766, by Franklin; as an adjective, from 1770.

1. Two trains collided head-on in north-eastern Germany early this morning.

今天早上德国东北部两列火车迎面相撞。

来自柯林斯例句

2. The western-most part of north Wales is a stronghold of Welsh-speakers.

北威尔士最西部是说威尔士语人的聚居区。

来自柯林斯例句

3. Go north on I-15 to the exit just past Barstow.

沿着15号州际公路一直向北，一过巴斯托就从出口驶出。

来自柯林斯例句

4. The North has been under Communist rule since 1954.

北方自1954年起就一直处于共产党的统治之下。

来自柯林斯例句

5. You can go anywhere and still the compass points north or south.

无论走到哪里，罗盘仍然指向北或南。

来自柯林斯例句